May 2014

In the aftermath of this week's foreign policy speech
by President Barack Obama and discussions on the imminent pullout of U.S.
troops from Afghanistan, we need to think once again of the implications this
retreat will have for the thousands of Afghans who for more than a decade have
worked not only with the military, but also with U.S.-based non-governmental
and media organizations.

The struggle
between Nigerian authorities and militant extremist group Boko Haram was
recently thrust into the global spotlight with the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls, but journalists in the country have been squeezed
between the two sides for years.

Freedom of expression advocates in South Africa are
concerned that the new Ministry of Communications, announced by President Jacob
Zuma when he unveiled his cabinet on May 25, will compromise the independence
of the public broadcaster and serve as a propaganda office.

A new document on freedom
of expression and opinion, adopted May 12 by the 28 foreign ministers of the
European Union, presses nearly all the right buttons. Drawing its inspiration
from international human rights norms as well as from the EU's treaties and its
charter of fundamental rights, the document reaffirms the role of freedom of
opinion and expression as "an essential foundation for democracy, rule of law,
peace, stability, sustainable inclusive development, and participation in
public affairs." It also makes a strong case for free and independent
journalism. The ministers committed the EU and member states to the defense of
journalists' freedom and safety, and endorsed watchdog journalism as a decisive
factor in "uncovering abuses of power, shining a light on corruption, and
questioning received opinion."

In the stairwell between the newsroom and studios of Nalia
Radio and Television (NRT) stand a charred monitor, a burnt vision mixer, and
smashed camera lens. They make up a display of equipment damaged when armed men
set fire to the station in Sulaymaniyah, a city in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan
which is home to much of the Kurdish media.

"Not
sure I can talk about my 'career' just yet--I'm still just getting started!"
freelance photographer Camille
Lepagetold
the photography site Petapixel in
October 2013.

Less than a year later, Lepage's body was found in a car in the Central African Republic, according to news reports citing the French government. She had been traveling with fighters of the anti-Balaka Christian militia and was killed in an ambush, the reports said.

Late last October, as I accompanied Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez in a cab
ride from LaGuardia Airport to her hotel in Manhattan, we talked nonstop about
what had changed in Cuba during 2013 and about her plans for 2014. Two things
she told me then were particularly striking.

In what appears to be one of a collection of measures to silence the press ahead of 2015 elections, Ethiopian authorities in the Communications Ministry are preparing a new system to control the distribution of print media. Privately owned newspapers and magazines, possibly the only remaining independent news sources in the country, would face more state control if the proposal is set into motion.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This week,
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong demanded an apology from a critical
blogger who has allegedly accused him of corruption. Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, who is
also a healthcare worker, has frequently posted critical commentary on the
ruling People's Action Party on his blog, The Heart
Truths.

Jordan's press freedom climate, once a shining light in the Middle East, has quickly deteriorated as journalists grapple with last year's government ban on nearly 300 news websites.

Press freedom groups are documenting a rise in self-censorship and an increase in criminal cases against journalists. Local online news editors and journalists are complaining of economic hardship and psychological pressure.

Since the surprise Arab uprisings of 2011, the Saudi
government has worked assiduously to ensure it has all the tools of censorship
it needs to control dissent. These tools--a combination of special courts, laws,
and regulatory authorities--are starting to fire on all cylinders. The result
has been a string of arrests and prosecutions in recent months of independent
and dissident voices.

One of the strongest memories I have of meeting President
Masoud Barzani is the winding drive up to his mountain-top headquarters in the
town of Salahuddin outside Erbil. That was in 2008, when a CPJ delegation
secured a pledge
from the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to "create an
atmosphere that is conducive to journalism."

Today, CPJ partnered with Reporters
Without Borders and Rory Peck Trust
in a joint open
letter calling on Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of Interior, Joseph Ole Lenku,
to provide clarity on the government's refugee policy and to exempt journalists
from forced relocation to the refugee camps. On March 25, Lenku ordered
all urban refugees to relocate to one of two refugee camps in a bid to tighten
security amid continuing violence, including an attack on a church in
Mombasa. His order came despite the fact that a similar government directive in
2012 was ruled unconstitutional
by the High Court.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijan will assume chairmanship of the Council
of Europe Committee of Ministers. The chairmanship process is automatic; the
position is rotated every six months among all of the council's members, in
alphabetical order. But Azerbaijan's chairmanship has proven more problematic
than most, as it comes at a time when the country's fulfillment of its Council
of Europe obligations is at its worst.

Late in 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted
resolution 68/163 on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, in an
effort to stem the killings of journalists
and ensure that perpetrators of deadly violence against journalists are brought to justice. The
resolution was a recognition that it has never been a
more dangerous time to be a journalist, and that states have a
responsibility to take action.

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At first glance, 19-year-old Jewher Ilham may seem like a
typical college student. As she clutched her smart phone, the face of a cat
imprinted on the cover peered through her fingers. She spoke in short sentences
with little pause. Her thoughts pulled her in various directions as she spoke about
her love for dance, juggling parental expectations, and what she has learned to
cook during her past year in a small college town in the U.S.

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EDITOR'S
NOTE: Hamid Mir, the executive editor of Pakistan's
Geo Television, survived an April 19 assassination
attempt, but was badly injured. The shooting came a
few weeks after the Pakistani government pledged in a
meeting with CPJ to address the insecurity plaguing the country's journalists. Shortly
after the attack, some Pakistani media stated that CPJ had received an emailed video
from Mir saying that if he were killed, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
Directorate (ISI) was responsible. Mir recently told CPJ that he had sent a
video to his lawyer, who did not send it to CPJ. The ISI has denied the
allegation it was behind the attack on Mir, according to news reports. This
article was initially published in the daily Urdu-language Jang
newspaper on May 5, 2014.

There are two types of traitors.

The first kind includes those who join
hands with enemies and help enslave their own people. Among the most prominent of
these is Jaffar Ali Khan, whose betrayal, as chief of army in 1757, eventually
led to the British rule of the subcontinent. Over time, Jaffar's name has
become synonymous with treachery.

"The federal government is fully committed to continue
fighting against impunity in cases of killed journalists," Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff told a CPJ delegation during a meeting on Tuesday in Brasilia,
the country's political capital. Accepting that deadly violence against the
media is a detriment to freedom of the press, Rousseff said her administration
will implement a mechanism to prevent deadly attacks, protect journalists under
imminent risk, and support legislative efforts to federalize crimes against
freedom of expression.

Journalism is increasingly
mediated by the same digital tools to which we entrust the rest of our lives. In
keeping with CPJ's mission to enable and protect journalists wherever they find
themselves under threat, we are pleased to announce the hire of Tom Lowenthal, our first staff technologist.

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This week, South Africans go to the polls for their fifth democratic
elections since 1994, but despite constitutional guarantees of media freedom,
the vast majority of South Africans who vote will do so informed only by the positive
news and information carried by a public broadcaster widely criticized
for its partiality to the ruling party.

Nearly seven months ago, CPJ published its first in-depth report
on press freedom in the United States, concluding that the Obama
administration's aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information,
broad surveillance programs, and moves to stem the routine disclosure of
information to the press meant that the president had fallen far short of his
campaign promise to have the most open government in U.S. history. What's
changed since? A quick survey of recent events suggests not much.